When and Why Should I Spay Or Neuter?

Spaying or neutering is a surgical procedure in which the reproductive organs of a dog are removed in order to prevent procreation. For a male dog, it entails removing the testicles while for the female, the uterus and ovaries are removed. In simple terms, spaying applies to a female while neutering can apply to either. These procedures are quite simple, require minimal hospitalization, and have both health and social benefits for your dog.

If you don’t intend to keep the offspring of your dog, it is advisable to neuter early for the overall health of your dog and also to prevent over-population.

When To Spay Or Neuter Your Dog

You may neuter your male dog as early when he is between 6 to 8 weeks while a female can generally be spayed when she is at least 6 months old (when she is yet to have her first heat). Because neutering too early may have negative implications, your vet will offer the best advice on the most appropriate time for your dog.

Attempting to neuter a male dog later in life may lead to surgical complications, especially in situations where the testicles are retained within the abdomen. This condition is a high risk factor for cancer.

Why you should consider Spaying Or Neutering Your Dog

Better health: 5 out of 10 cases of uterine infections and breast cancer results in fatality. Spaying helps to reduce your dog’s exposure to these life threatening conditions. For their male counterparts, it reduces their risk of developing testicular cancer, prostatitis and perineal hernias. Besides, your dog mating an “unknown” male or female poses a health risk which neutering prevents.

Better Behavior: An unneutered male dogs would naturally seek female company and would go all out to satisfy this need. If he is unable to do this, he might resort to mounting furniture or humans. Such a dog could also exhibit aggressive behavior such as getting into fights with other males in an attempt to win the right to mount a female dog. He would dig under a fence and roam or stray away from the home to satisfy this sexual urge thus risking injury from fights or car accident. Neutering would keep this in check and keep him more at home. His attention would be more on his human family than his canine opposite,

Most male dogs mark their territory by spraying urine and this can be an unwanted behavior, especially indoors. An unspayed female will also yowl and urinate more frequently when on heat. Neutering before the onset of this behavior can completely prevent it from occurring.

Low Cost: Spaying and neutering are low cost surgical procedures that won’t hurt your pocket. Compare this to the cost of keeping a litter or paying for damages if your dog causes trouble while straying.